Mohammed Rafi (Hindi: मोहम्मद रफ़ी, Urdu: محمد رفیع; December 24, 1924 July 31, 1980), often addressed as Rafi Sahib, was an Indian playback singer whose career spanned four decades and is one of the most versatile male singers in the history of Indian cinema. Rafi sang in many Indian languages including Hindi, Urdu, Bhojpuri, Punjabi, Bengali, Marathi, Sindhi, Kannada and Telugu. He also recorded English and Persian songs. He is primarily remembered, however, for his Hindi songs, which still remain very popular in India today and also among the Indian diaspora. He dominated the Bollywood music industry from the 1950s to the 1970s along with Mukesh, Manna Dey, and Kishore Kumar.

Between 1950 and 1970, Rafi was one of the most sought after singers in Bollywood.

In 1965, he was honoured by the Government of India with the Padma Sri award.

Rafi's funeral procession was recorded on a very rainy day in Mumbai. A portion of that same recording has been used in one of the Hindi movie released later. It was one of the biggest funeral processions mumbai had ever witnessed, with over 10,000 people attending.

A documentary about Rafis life is under production by The Films Division of India.

On September 22, 2007 a shrine to Rafi designed by artist Tasawar Bashir was unveiled in Birmingham. Bashir is hoping that Rafi will attain sainthood as a result.

Awards; * 2001 - Rafi was honored with the "best singer of the millennium" by Hero Honda and Stardust magazine in Mumbai on Jan 7, 2001.

Government Awards; * 15Th Aug 1947 - Indian Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru given hug after his song * 1948 - Rafi received a silver medal from the Indian Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru, on the first anniversary of the Indian Independence Day. * 1965 - he was honoured with the Padmashri by the Government of India.

National Film Awards; * 1968 - National Award for Best Male Playback Singer for Neel Kamal composed by Ravi Shankar. * 1977 - National Film Award for Best Male Playback Singer for "Kya Hua Tera Wada" song in the film Hum Kisi Se Kum Nahin), composed by RD Burman, lyrics by Majrooh Sultanpuri.